Dying Chances
by Cursed Detective
Summary: Because sometimes everything turns out okay... and sometimes there's nothing that can be done. (Part 1 of the 'Chances' 'verse)


_This is no longer a_ complete _oneshot, as it has become part of a little trilogy. Still depressing, though._

 _Also, I don't own DC/MK._

 ** _Dying Chances_**

"Kudo, come over. I need to talk to you."

The line clicked before Shinichi (Conan, still, maybe _always_ ) could answer. Haibara had sounded… _worried._

Well, as worried as she ever sounded, covering it with curt anger and impassiveness. She had long since had it ingrained to hide weaknesses, and there was very little that frightened her. The only thing that she could be worried about was _him._

Four days earlier, he'd given in and gone to her, a pervasive sense of exhaustion simply having refused to let him go since his last cold. She'd called him back in for more blood samples two days ago, then again yesterday, each time sounding curt and just a bit concerned, but this was different. More.

So. The only reason she would tell him to come in person…

There was something wrong with him, _really_ wrong, and he supposed he wasn't surprised. He'd been getting _more_ tired, not less, and he'd started to feel nauseous that morning. It had slowly grown worse as he'd gotten ready for the day, and it was bad enough that Mouri (Ran was off on a trip with Sonoko, thank whatever kami had decided to cut him a break) had looked at him funny, and that was saying something.

"Oi, brat. Do I need to take you to a doctor?"

Conan let his shoulders slump, "No. That was Agasa-hakase; he said if I was still feeling sick he'd look after me today so I wouldn't have to go to that client's house with you, but since it's on your way, could you just drop me off at the end of his street? I can walk from there."

Mouri grumbled, but drove Conan all the way to Agasa's house, not just leaving him three blocks away to walk. That kind of put into perspective how bad he must look, because the man didn't usually go for little acts of kindness.

Aside from the unease and the general worry, Shinichi felt a bit of regret. He may not know for certain what Haibara was going to say, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't let him go to the Kid heist that night. He wasn't feeling well, so he wouldn't really be able to join the chase even if he went, but those heists were one of the few _fun_ things he could do without stumbling over a body. It sucked to have to miss one.

Haibara ushered him to the couch as soon as Agasa let him inside, calling thanks to Mouri for driving 'Conan' over, and there was a redness to her eyes and a frustration in her stance that had Shinichi immediately _knowing_.

"Something has triggered the Apotoxin to start activating again," she told him, terse and strained. "Your body is starting to break down. Your blood samples show a steady increase in the speed of the degradation, and…"

Shinichi held up a hand, cutting her off. He knew what that meant. "How long?" he asked.

"If the rate of increase continues… between one and two weeks," Haibara's voice wavered slightly, though she was visibly relieved to not have to say the word aloud. "I have—I have a prototype for the permanent antidote. I didn't want to give it to you, because while it _will_ return you to your proper size, the projected survival rate of the transformation was only fifty-point-zero-two percent, and that was assuming you were healthy, but it's… it's not a _good_ chance, but it's a chance."

Shinichi nodded, knowing from her tone that 'not good' was lower than fifty percent. "What are my chances?"

"If you take it now? Maybe forty percent. By this time tomorrow… I'd say only twenty-eight percent, and by the day after that, it won't be a chance anymore."

"What about by tonight?"

"… If you take it within six hours, your chances shouldn't have dropped by more than three percent."

Shinichi nodded, "I… have some calls to make. And…"

Haibara gave him a searching look, then sighed. "The heist."

"He's helped us both," Shinichi reminded, "It wouldn't be fair to not let him know. He already knows about _Them;_ it's not like it'll put him in any more danger."

"What of Mouri-chan?"

Shinichi closed his eyes, "I… it's cruel, but…"

"Let Conan disappear?"

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Shinichi quoted. "Only, this time, illusion to illusion. As he arrived, so let him vanish. From nowhere and to nowhere. And… that way there will always be some small hope. We don't have time to arrange anything."

"And… what of Kudo Shinichi?"

"If I die, I die as myself. Let them have that much of the truth."

 _xxxx_

Phone calls, first to his parents—they wouldn't be able to arrive in time. From America, they would only get there well after he'd taken the antidote, and if he lived, he'd be grateful for the effort (because they were coming, of _course_ they were, because no matter how stand-offish they might be from time to time, they _did_ love him). If not… well, at least they wouldn't be there to _see._

Agasa—he'd been listening, and so he needed no further explanation. _Not_ the Mouris or the police, no matter how much they deserved to know, because it was just too dangerous. Hattori, though…

("I'm on my way, Kudo.")

He wouldn't be in time, either, the first train he'd be able to catch bringing him in only an hour _after_ the heist, and he planned to take the pill as soon as he could after talking to Kid.

Only one person left to talk to, and then… Well, he'd gamble what time he had left and maybe win out a bit more.

 ** _xxxx_**

He'd been… _disappointed_ by the ease of the heist, or rather, that Tantei-kun hadn't been there making his life more interesting.

Hey, no one had ever accused Kaitou Kid of being sane. Dodging 200 kph soccer balls was _fun,_ okay? Not dodging them was significantly less fun, but usually they'd dropped at least 70 kph before hitting him through ricochets.

Still, sometimes Tantei-kun just planted himself along the escape route, especially if he hadn't been feeling well, and Kid knew that his mini-tantei had been sick the week before, so…

Rooftop. And, yes, there was Tantei-kun, but Kid's intended cheerful greeting caught in his throat and died when he realized just what he was looking at. Tantei-kun was sitting, leaned against the exchange-vent for the air system in the building, looking up at the sky with a contemplative expression. He didn't move even though Kid _knew_ that Tantei-kun knew he was there.

But that wasn't what made him hesitate. No, it was a small, neat pile of items sitting several feet from the smaller male, out of his easy reach—items that he was very distinctively _not_ wearing.

A pair of child-sized tennis shoes that weren't, a belt with an oddly-shaped buckle, and a child-sized watch that doubled as a tranq-gun and tripled as a flashlight.

"… Tantei-kun?" He was worried. Tantei-kun wouldn't disarm without a reason.

"Kid. I… is there somewhere safe nearby that we can talk? I don't have a lot of time."

Something about the way he said that sounded… _ominous_. He didn't hesitate.

"Yes. Get your things, Tantei-kun. We're going for a little flight."

 _xxxx_

Tantei-kun's form shivered in his arms, a fine tremor that he hadn't seen with the distance and darkness on the rooftop. He was dressed warmly, too, more warmly than the fall night really warranted.

Kid shifted his grip a bit, bringing the bare inside of his wrist against the back of his erstwhile rival's neck, and had to focus to keep from frowning. Tantei-kun's skin wasn't warm, like he'd more than half-expected. Bundling on a warm night usually meant fever, but no. The tiny tantei's skin was cool, almost _cold,_ and that… When put together with lack of chase and disarming and a request to talk because he didn't 'have a lot of time', that was _terrifying._

There was something in Tantei-kun's zipper-pocket, something small and hard and circular.

The nearest safe house wasn't the most comfortable, but…

He got them to the ground with no one else the wiser, slipping the object from Tantei-kun's pocket and into his own as he did so, then ushered said Tantei-kun before him into the one-room studio apartment, taking a moment to see what he'd appropriated.

It was a pill-case, like the ones people who had scheduled prescriptions used to keep medications safe and dry when not at home, a single large pill inside.

His heart stuttered. There were no distinguishing marks, and it was large enough to be a vitamin or antibiotic, but…

"Tantei-kun, what is this?" The door snapped shut behind him, and his voice came harsh.

Blue eyes locked on the case in Kid's hand and a flash of true fear crossed Tantei-kun's face before he visibly forced himself calm.

"A chance."

"A chance for what?"

Tantei-kun cracked a smile, but it was grim and determined and resigned all at once, nothing that a smile _should_ be, and beneath Kid's Poker Face, Kaito wanted to grab small shoulders and shake until that twisted expression left his favorite detective's face.

"You know who I am," Tantei-kun stated, and yes, he knew. Kudo Shinichi, shrunken to child-size and in hiding. "Now I'll tell you _why._ "

Kaito let Kid's Poker Face slide away as Tantei-kun made good on his statement. _Poison._ He'd known about his critic's Organization, suspected they were one with his own, but… "What does this have to do with _'now'?_ "

He was afraid he already knew.

"We're not sure why, but the poison has become active again. My doctor's been running every test she can think of for the past three days, and… I'm dying, Kid. That—she's had that prototype for _months,_ but she wasn't planning on letting me take it, because she hadn't gotten the chance of survival over fifty percent. The way it works is too much for a human body to handle as often as not. A healthy human body, anyway."

He closed his eyes. "Why—why are you telling me this?"

"Because you deserve to know, and you won't be in any _more_ danger for me telling you."

"What happens if you don't take that pill?"

"My body is shutting down. I have somewhere between one and two weeks."

And that… that was…

"And if you do?"

"… Most likely? I'll die screaming tonight. But I might be alive in three weeks when I won't be otherwise."

"What are your chances?" Kaito only managed a rough whisper. He didn't want to think about Tantei-kun dying.

Tantei-kun checked his watch, and Kaito sucked in a breath at the implication there. "… around thirty-seven percent."

"And if you wait?"

"… by four o'clock tomorrow, maybe twenty-eight percent. By ten tomorrow… maybe nine percent."

"When did you find out?" Because Kaito wasn't going to do the math, but that meant his chances were dropping, and the rate of drop was _increasing._

"About four this afternoon."

Kaito tried to keep his heart from breaking, and wasn't sure he could. "Why didn't you take it then?"

The look leveled at him was… he wasn't sure, but Tantei-kun obviously didn't think much of the question.

"This was important, and it didn't make much difference. I won't ask you to stay with me, but… I need to take it soon. Now."

Kaito returned Tantei-kun's look with one of his own. "I'm not going to leave you alone."

Tantei-kun, _Shinichi_ , looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "There's a tracker in my glasses. Haibara will figure out what I've done, soon. She'll come looking, but… I don't want her here for this. If I survive… well, I'll be buying her placation-gifts for a while, but… it would be cruel to let her watch if I die from her antidote."

That _would_ be cruel, yes. Moreso if what Shinichi had said about screaming was true.

He took the pill case that Kaito held out to him, not commenting on the tremor in Kaito's fingers. A moment later, he had the pill in his hand, and he paused.

"Kid… thank you."

And the pill was gone, swallowed, and it wasn't long before Kaito found out that the screaming _was_ true, and so was thrashing, _convulsing,_ and there was no way Tantei-kun was going to survive, because he sounded like he was being burned alive, torn apart, _something_ , and Kaito's vision blurred as he dropped down to gather the (growing) form in his arms.

He'd thought seeing his father die would be the worst thing he'd ever see, but at least that had been quick. A flash of fire and a cry more shocked than pained, it had been horrifying because it had been his _father._ This, though…

This was worse, holding Tantei-kun in his arms as he screamed and screamed and grew—and suddenly he was teen-sized and had gone completely, utterly slack in Kaito's hold.

 _No._

Kaito scrambled to check breathing and pulse, heart pounding in terror and grief.

 _Inari, please, no._

 _I never even told him my name._

 _xxxx_


End file.
